


Stardust

by inexchangeforyoursoul



Category: Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Dragon Quest XI Act II Spoilers, Dreams and Nightmares, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hugs, it can be shippy if you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:47:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28011891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inexchangeforyoursoul/pseuds/inexchangeforyoursoul
Summary: Eleven should really go to sleep already.He'll just have to sort out a sleepless Erik first.
Relationships: Camus | Erik & Hero | Luminary
Kudos: 12





	Stardust

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very, VERY old thing from like 2 years back I dound on my drive. It was close to be done so... I patched it up!! Enjoy.

It's getting hard to keep his eyes open, so Eleven decides it's about time to try and go to bed already. Just a few steps to the door to his room, he catches a glimpse of Erik wobbling in from above the deck of the Salty Stallion, however. And, his friend doesn't seem to be doing all that well.

Also… he supposedly went to bed, like, an hour ago? There’s no time to say something about it, as the comatose rogue also takes note of him.

“Oh, hey,” Erik starts.

It sounds rather unconvincing. If anything, running into the boy seems to have made him look more disturbed than before.

“Did not expect you to be up and about still,” the older boy adds then upon considering the time. It must be, like, midnight, and his Luminary tends to keep his bedtimes, even in this insomniac mood he’s been in.

As a way of an answer, Eleven holds up the bright green ball that serves as the pocket dimensional shelf for the fun-size forge.

“… well, I wouldn’t use that thing on a ship bobbing, wobbling up on the waves, but you do you, pal,” is all he can say to that, shaking his head a little as he steps over to the door of his quarters.

The revelation seems to have lifted his spirits a little, that with the chuckle hidden into the ‘well’ at the start. And Eleven would be lying if he claimed it to be any good of an idea after the third botched attempt at the same helmet. On the other hand, he’s read every book on board from cover to cover already… Perfecting recipes is all there is left to distract him from thinking after everyone is asleep.

With that thought, he pockets the magical gem. His question is yet to be answered, though. “What about you?”

Erik gives his nape a scratch and moans. “Woke up after some dumb nightmare, never mind. Thought I’d catch some fresh air before going back to sleep.”

Upon further consideration… he may have said too much already. One of these days, he really ought to do something about this tongue of his that tends to be one step ahead of his common sense, much like his sticky fingers. Unlike the latter, however, it does make some problems bigger than they really ought to be.

Indeed, he can see Eleven raise a brow as he peeks back; if it were just any old nightmare, Erik would have been over it by now. But he’s obviously not.

Soon after catching the eerie, bright blue stare of his companion, the tired thief takes hold of his own wrist. His free fingers curl inside, recalling the unpleasant memory of the fleeting dream before straightening again. After a bit of thinking he drops his arms to hang about aimlessly for a second or two. There’s no point in dancing around the issue.

“There was this gold plague again, I somehow became a source of it, and when you touched me... you got iced, too. That’s all,” he spills it unwillingly after a sigh. His nose scrunches up the second he finishes, regretting it immediately. Those forsaken inquisitorial eyes are too damn good at their job. Sometimes he can't help but imagine how much worse it would be if they were the legitimately cold kind. _Yeesh_.

Eleven’s mouth opens a little upon hearing that; for a split second, he almost feels guilty. But the small gap disappears about as fast as it came and the minute doubt is replaced with patient concern.

No wonder that dream upset him… it’s been just about a week, after all, and then there was Veronica, too…

“Ugh, whatever,” the thief waves dismissively before he could get a word in; “I’ll forget about it come morning, anyway. You shouldn't dwell on it, either.”

On one hand, he’s absolutely right… on the other, Eleven doesn’t want to just leave it at that. There’s been too much stress going around among the party, and even with some good, or at least optimistic news sprinkled in, this has been a mess for everyone. Including him. Determination and stuff aside, knowing that it's a straight line to Mordegon as soon as they get to forge the new sword doesn't help at all. Quite frankly, whenever someone has a bad day, it just drags him down the hole, so…

The thief looks straight-out offended upon noticing that he’s holding out a hand towards him. That, and a little bit, well, uncomfortable. He wastes no time moving onto crossing his arms and looking disappointed, though. “… I know you found it funny that we did the wild side thing just when the damn moon appeared in the sky earlier, but are you actually expecting me to shake it like a good boy? There’s a limit to what I’m down with, you know.” 

That answer is a good one; more specifically, the fact that Erik is willing to make a joke is good news. Even with the two fistfuls of snark sprinkled in.

Either way, Eleven raises his hand and invites for a high five instead.

“That’s more like it,” comes the answer, along with a smirk. It doesn’t last, though.

Erik lets out a long breath and puts his hands on his waist instead. “So…” he starts, strutting back up to Eleven at last, one step at a time; “you _swear_ that you definitely won't turn into some lame statue the second I touch you, eh?” He stops at an arm’s length and eyes him suspiciously. A little too suspiciously for it to be taken seriously, to be honest.

The boy nods his head with enough momentum to send his hair flailing about; he also sports a small smile, seeing how his bestie is putting up an act to cover up the leftovers of that gloom weighing on him. Oh, is he trying ever so hard.

Erik cocks his head. “Cross your heart?”

Eleven gives another definite nod with an even more confident hum while also tapping his heart area. Now he just looks like taking a pledge.

This does worm out a genuine smile of his friend, and he lifts his hand to go for it— but stops right there. A few thoughtful seconds later, as awkwardness is already creeping up on the situation, he poses another question: “Not into a star, either?”

Eleven can’t help but put on a questioning face at that. A moment later, a breeze cutting through the corridor chills him down to the exhausted bone. That’s when the penny drops, and… quite frankly, he’s not happy about the suggestion. The only time he even thought about this for a minute was when this Luminary business initially came about. More specifically, while he was lying in bed after meeting Gemma that night. But, he quickly dismissed the idea upon diving into the excitements of a trip that seemed oh so court at the time.

Now, however… with all that crazy stuff going on… it’s a scarily realistic thing to think about.

Still, he doesn’t plan on going like that, at least he definitely is not right now. So he just shakes his head, albeit with little enthusiasm.

“... sea foam?”

The exchange has officially gotten uncomfortable, and not only because of the Lonalulu incident.

It feels as if Erik was deliberately picking the worst available possibilities he could think of. Not to mention he's looking straight through him.

“… Erik, what are you…?”

His friend gives his palm a lukewarm tap at last and takes another deep breath, which really wants to turn into a yawn halfway through. “Sorry, man. I really shouldn’t tempt fate.”

When Erik looks tired… he's not just tired. Somehow, these questions make Eleven feel inadequate, if not a source of danger, and also… “Are you… that worried? About me?”

“Of course I am, _sheesh_ _!_ ” Erik basically shouts, forgetting about the time of day as he lifts his arms in disbelief. “Only hope of mankind be damned, if anything happens to the not-Luminary part of my friend due to a curse or some destiny bullshit, I'm going to do more than just flip a table or two, you just _watch!!_ ” he finishes his fuming with three emphasizing pokes to Eleven’s chest. He sighs then, calming down. “I've been nothing but trouble lately, though. Definitely don't want to be the one to botch it up,” he adds.

Eleven needs a moment to run this through the head, and his epiphanic answer gets summarised concisely enough: “Oh.”

Honestly, apart from Erik being worried about getting in the way, that just might be the nicest thing he's ever said to any of them. He had concluded earlier that he accompanied him because of Mia and that prophecy thing, but now that he's thinking about it… that deed is as done as it can get. He could have easily stayed with his sister in Sniflheim… Like, yes, he does not do things by halves, so he may want to help make sure that the world stands for her to have a good life in. Unlike the others, however, who all have their reasons to do so… there's no need for Erik to stay with the Luminary any longer, is there?

He's just worried about him and the crew and wants to help out. That's… really sweet, actually. Warms Eleven’s anxious, troubled heart and face. He’d love to give this thief a big, big hug right now… in fact, he's going to do just that.

Erik almost jumps when he wraps his arms around the guy. He’s as stiff as a board for a good few seconds before calming down. He sighs then and reaches up to pat his Lminary’s back, too. “ … you know what, El? I needed this. Thanks.”

After a moment of silence, Erik speaks up again. “You know… in that dream, you took my hand. The same way you tried to before.”

The only answer he gets is a little squeeze. It draws a smile on the thief’s face. After a sigh, he speaks up again. “Eleven?”

He barely-man hums, noting that he’s paying attention.

“How do I put this… you’re as hot as a goddamn furnace, so… might wanna let go of me before I get too much into it. Falling asleep like this,” he needs to stifle a really big yawn at this point, “would be uncool.” Not that he’s complaining, but… this is too goddamn… comfy…

Eleven can’t help but smile, too. Seems like a legitimately tired Erik is just a perfect mishmash of the sweet and rowdy sides of him. His amnesiac self wasn't all that out of the ordinary, after all.

Perhaps he spends a little more time being amused at the fact, because he eventually hears soft snoring.

It’s… coming from Erik.

… he fell asleep for real.

Whoops.

**Author's Note:**

> just, listen… that forge had to be small enough to be hidden, goddammit, even if my boy had to shove it up his asshole. (Or stash it away at Ruby’s, or lift it from Derk on the way out, or whatever. Anyway, that medium sized orb thing on top seems like a decent and magical enough answer to both inventory bullshit and terrible dungeon safety standards.)


End file.
